A bit of a swell

This blog is now 8 years old (Happy Birthday, Pageant!) and to celebrate, it took another trip to the Farne Islands, courtesy of

Based in the local port of Seahouses, Northumbria, the boats fly the Northumbrian flag with pride.

Arriving early enough for a landing on the two main islands supporting seabird colonies, your humble author was told that ‘there was a bit of a swell’, which meant only a trip around Staple Island, but extra time on Inner Farne.

Before setting off, Seahouses harbour revealed the following. First a skein of Pink-footed geese, heading north along the coast.

Also a delightful Eider Duck (known locally as Cuddy Ducks, after St Cuthbert, the patron Saint of Northern England, who lived on Inner Farne in the seventh century, as a Hermit before becoming the Bishop of Lindisfarne).